I am noticing that I must remind myself to be gentle with myself. I’ve been working long hours.  I’ve been providing a lot of support in various ways. I’ve been experiencing the rush and bustle of the Holiday Season and the stresses that can come with it.

It seems that many areas of my life are all coming together all at once, and I could translate that to a lot of pressure. Of course the pressure is self-made and in any moment I can choose to take the pressure off myself. I do this by reminding myself to be gentle with myself.

I give myself a lot of self-appreciation. I prioritize what’s important to get done in the now and leave the rest behind. I realize that there is a part of myself that likes things to be resolved and finished. Life isn’t like that, and I’ve been learning to be okay with unfinished projects, knowing that they are getting done in the perfect time.

I have a powerful spiritual tool that I used called Spiritual Mind Treatment. Recognizing that God is in everything, including me and declaring how I am experiencing the day and giving gratitude for it in advance, I then can release my efforts to a greater Mind that takes care of the details for me. When I truly release, I find a calmness surrounding everything that I didn’t have before the Treatment.

Being gentle with myself also means a short nap in the middle of the day, taking care of my time for meditation and exercise and turning off the day after a certain time at night. I can’t always do this if there is an emergency, but that is really rare. Most of the time, my neglect to turn off the day is due to my feelings of not being able to get all I want to done. Just the other night, I was experiencing a challenge in my office work. I decided to just stop and look at it again tomorrow. The problem dissolved because I had clearer eyes to see it in the morning.

It’s not just about the Holidays. We can be gentle with ourselves all year. We can take the time to self-appreciate, rest, allow everything to get done in the perfect time and exchange peace of mind for stress.

In the end, it really is a choice. We might think that life is running us, but we are the ones that allow life to work through us at the pace we choose. We are enough in every moment. Even with the pressures we feel from others and life, we have the choice to remember we are always enough. We are moving as fast as we can and it’s okay to put on the brakes here and there. Life is meant to be enjoyed, relished and experienced in our own unique way. We are enough just as we are.

Love and Aloha,

Rev. Rita